Year of release: 2022
Run time: 2 hr. 5 mins.
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Romance / Drama / Coming of Age
Language: English
Where the Crawdads Sing: A woman who raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved.
Table of Contents
Synopsis
Abandoned as a girl, Kya raised herself in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumors of the marsh girl haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community. Drawn to two young men from town, she opens herself to a new and startling world. However, when one of them is found dead, Kya immediately becomes the main suspect. As the case unfolds, the verdict as to what happened becomes increasingly unclear, threatening to reveal many secrets.
Introduction
Drama films aren’t really my thing, but there was something about “Where the Crawdads Sing” that sounded like home, a place to go back to when you have nowhere else to go. Where the Crawdads Sing is a beautiful dramatic coming-of-age film with a surprising yet well deserved twist. Directed by Olivia Newman with Reese Witherspoon as the producer. Taylor Swift was set on writing the song “Carolina” for the movie—but only after she found out that Daisy Edgar-Jones was starring and Reese Witherspoon was producing. The film is based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Delia Owens.
“Where the Crawdads Sing” revolves around Kya Clark (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones, who I think resembles Dakota Johnson in a way in some scenes) also known as The Marsh Girl. At a very young age, one by one, their neighbors, people close to her, her brother and her mother left her alone in the marsh to care for her abusive father, who also left her eventually. She was forced to fend for herself and learn how to survive alone. Romance soon knocked on her doorstep and that was the beginning and the end of her story.
Characters
Daisy was phenomenal, she’s a British actress yet throughout the whole film, I couldn’t hear any slip-ups of her English accent. She teamed up with dialect coach Francie Brown to nail the Southern American accent for her role as Kya. Her portrayal of a recluse and shy girl from the marsh was spot on. Her voice was sweet and very articulate. Whenever she starts narrating in the background, it was enchanting. Young Kya Clark (played by Jojo Regina) was awesome as well.
Her love interests, Tate Walker (played by Taylor John Smith) and Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) was great as well, delivering two different and distinct characters to the table. Andrews display of anger was perfect.
The lawyer, Tom Milton (played by David Strathairn) is to be applauded for. He acted with grace and composure. Even as a supporting character, his performance level was that of the main’s.
Conclusion
Where the Crawdads Sing honestly makes me want to watch more drama films, specially of this caliber. I highly recommend this film to anyone. It gave me the satisfaction I got from watching Midsommar (2019), but of a different genre. The characters were great. Dialogue was spot on. The surprise towards the end is definitely one for the books (pun intended).
Cast:
Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya Clark
Taylor John Smith as Tate Walker
Harris Dickinson as Chase Andrews
David Strathairn as Tom Milton
Michael Hyatt as Mabel
Director: Olivia Newman
Written by: Delia Owens (based on novel by), Lucy Alibar
Music by: Mychael Danna
Produced by: Reese Witherspoon, Lauren Levy Neustadter & Jon Wu
Cinematography by: Polly Morgan
